Access our documents further down on the page
What we do
1) The Alliance has developed its EU advocacy strategy to engage with the EU institutions and progress on our objectives and joint EU-level events.
2) A key voice. The work of the Alliance makes it a key voice to hear and follow. Informing, disseminating, and raising awareness is of course another pillar of the Alliance, which will be maintaining a blog and will be present on social media and on all members’ visibility tools.
3) A key added value of the Alliance is brought by the national level. 3 National Pilot Alliances will carry out cross-sectoral joint working on the European Semester to achieve social, sustainable and equality policy outcomes.
4) The Alliance will also be strengthened by providing capacity building to its national members, notably the national alliances, with a related toolkit.
5) Joint reports will bring together learning from the national level, on 1) Providing proposals on the country-specific recommendations and 2) Assessing the European Semester delivery.
Outputs
The Semester Alliance joint position on Country-Specific Recommendations 2015 and Annual Growth Survey 2016
On 18 December 2015, the Semester Alliance shared with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker its analysis of the Commission’s Annual Growth Survey 2016 (2 pages). In addition, the Semester Alliance addressed further proposals on how to deliver a more democratic, social and sustainable Europe on the basis of its ‘street light approach’ of the 2015 Country-Specific Recommendations, contained in its joint position (4 pages). A BEATING HEART FOR A BETTER EUROPE | Watch EU Semester Alliance video
February 2015 – This short video highlights the main activities, benefits and learning of the EU Semester Alliance, particularly incorporating the views of the national level and external stakeholders.
The Semester Alliance report
This EU Alliance report on the European Semester 2014 presents the assessment by the members of the ‘EU Alliance for a democratic, social and sustainable European Semester’ on the content and process of the European Semester in 2014. It has been written on the basis of consultation processes with the members of the Alliance at European and national levels, notably through work with three pilot national Alliances in Bulgaria, Denmark and Ireland.
Read the Semester Alliance report
2014 Proposals for country-specific recommendations: Progressing on a smart, sustainable and inclusive EU
Proposals for 2014 Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs): Progressing on a Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive EU, proposing country-specific recommendations in country fiches, at its launch at the EESC on 07 April 2014. This draws on the work of Alliance partners’ national members, who are attempting to engage in the Semester, particularly through the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) at national level, and represents initial attempts to assess macroeconomic, social, environmental and equality policies being delivered through the Semester and to present combined proposals for CSRs that could help achieve progress towards the social, equality and environmental goals and targets of Europe 2020.
- Open the publication here 2014 Proposals for CSRs: Progressing on a smart, sustainable and inclusive EU
- See also on this blog the page dedicated to the KEY MESSAGES of the Alliance for the 2014 CSRs and here as a pdf.
- See related post on this blog
Capacity-Building Workshop on Learning, Exchange and Engagement – The Semester Alliance Toolkit and the Report of the workshop
06/06/2014-The Semester Alliance held a 1-day Capacity Building workshop for 35 Alliance members in Brussels which several participants considered a “very useful, dynamic and powerful day”. The workshop was primarily aimed at national members of the Alliance, including the 3 pilot alliances in Denmark, Bulgaria and Ireland, but also representatives from the Brussels level.
See related news: Europe 2020 and European Semester: Semester Alliance gets together for a successful capacity building day
The TOOLKIT in
Annexes:
- The European Semester in a nutshell (PDF from a PowerPoint presentation)
- Who to contact
- Template letter
- Glossary of terms and acronyms in
- List of useful stakeholder engagement quotes – from EU documents
Semester Alliance Hearing Report
07/04/2014 – the Semester Alliance was launched and it presented its initial assessment of the Semester – Proposals for 2014 Country-Specific Recommendations (document above) – drawing on the work of Alliance partners’ national members. There was then a round-table debate with the EU institutions and other stakeholders on the way forward to get the European Semester to deliver on its promises for inclusive and sustainable growth, and to increase democratic legitimacy.
The event was hosted by Maureen O’Neill, President of the Social Affairs Section of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and in the round table were the following members of the European Commission and the European Parliament: Nicholas Costello, Deputy Head of Unit: DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Outi Slotboom, Head of Unit: DG Economic and Financial Affairs, Marije Cornelissen (Greens/EFA) and Jürgen Klute (GUE).
Click here to access the HEARING REPORT
National Semester Alliances reports
Bulgaria
Access the Bulgarian report here.
Ireland
An overview of the Irish Alliance activities:
- Published a briefing on Europe 2020 and the European Semester– what it is, why it matters and how to influence it
- Drawn up a submission on Mid Term Review of Europe 2020 to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs. It includes a range of proposals for improving delivery of the social and environmental commitments of the strategy.
- Drawn up an analysis of EU Recommendations for Ireland: At the end of May the EU issued seven Recommendations for Ireland covering a range of policy areas Ireland needs to address over the coming year. While dominated by economic priorities they also contain potential positives. The Better Europe Alliance – Irish Civil Society Organisations for a Social and Sustainable Europe, including EAPN Ireland, has carried out and published an analysis of these Recommendations.
- Spoken to a hearing in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs on the Mid-term Review of Europe 2020 Strategy: Discussion: Report here
